Centre for Experimental Social Science (CESS)

Description

The Centre for Experimental Social Science (CESS) is dedicated to all areas of research in experimental social science. With diverse laboratories, a virtual laboratory, and online subject pools, CESS has an international reputation for promoting and facilitating experiments in the social sciences. Since its establishment in 2008, CESS has facilitated over 100 experiments involving more than 50,000 participants for researchers worldwide.

The CESS team comprises researchers from various fields, including political science, sociology, social psychology, and economics. Their research utilises a wide range of interdisciplinary methods, including virtual and physical laboratories, online experiments, and field studies. Current research conducted by CESS members focuses on understanding the impact of Covid-19 on behavioural preferences, the potential risks associated with deepfake technology, and the underlying conditions for oppressive behaviour.

Nuffield College is strongly committed to promoting cross-disciplinary research in the social sciences, and CESS contributes significantly to this goal. CESS provides infrastructure for various types of experiments, including laboratory studies, field experiments, online studies, and, as of 2020, the CESS virtual lab. This infrastructure is crucial for developing innovative solutions to the unique design challenges faced by experimental researchers. While the physical laboratory remains CESS's central hub, recent global events have prompted greater emphasis on online and virtual laboratory capabilities. CESS takes pride in offering viable alternatives to researchers facing capacity limitations for conducting experiments.

To support its commitment to fostering research in the experimental social sciences, CESS organises a range of seminars, colloquia, conferences, and workshops. For the past six years, CESS has co-hosted the International Meeting on the Behavioural and Experimental Social Sciences (IMEBESS), an interdisciplinary conference for experimental scientists in all social science disciplines. Additionally, CESS fulfils its pledge to mentor students through courses and workshops, such as the month-long summer school on experimental methods.

Looking ahead, CESS aims to build upon and expand its current capabilities. This will be achieved by fostering collaborations with other centres and significantly increasing the number of participants and locations for conducting virtual laboratory studies.

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Founding year

2008

Contact details

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University affiliation(s)

University of Oxford
Oxford